vanity counter ahead. “I know what I did, and I’m good with it.”
Always playing it cool…
I sucked in a breath of boredom, prepared to finally go. “Well, now you can be good with seeing your family in two weeks for Thanksgiving dinner. Thank me on our flight home, seat neighbor.”
“This is for a flight with you?”
I reached down, gripped her chin with my index finger and thumb, and pulled her to my mouth, tonguing her deeply. Her mouth was warm, breath was of stale mint, and tongue was innocent and eager just the same. My palm moved to her neck, drawing me deeper into the kiss. Tori grabbed at my lower arm, holding on to me as I took her mouth without restraint. Tori was a beginner, lacking pace and patience. That shit thrilled me. I stopped because I had to, not because I was done. As smooth as my moves were, this felt fucked up.
But so damn good…
I pulled back and murmured, “Don’t sound so excited.”
“I’m not,” she breathed.
Feeling her pulse against my hand, I let go of her neck and chuckled. I needed to go, so I did.
“Your apologies ain’t no different from my thank yous,” she called to my back.
That deepened my humor. “God help us all when I start thanking you.” Then I peered over my shoulder. “You coming to the lawn theater on Friday?”
After a beat, she murmured, “I don’t know what that is, but two days is a long way away when I got so much school work to do and a fight to get ready for.”
Ignoring her low key “no,” I shot back, “I’ll save you a seat.”
Why did I agree to this?
That was the fourth time I asked myself that question since walking to the south side of campus to find this stupid lawn theater thing. Apparently, it was popular because, since Ashton brought it up on Wednesday night, Samantha had mentioned it before leaving for work last night, and ShawnNicole asked me if I was coming this morning when I passed her in the hall on my way to my class. This shit felt like peer pressure.
Walking toward a gigantic projection screen, I saw concession stands. People were walking away with popcorn, drinks, candy, and other foods I couldn’t make out. Dag. This was a real thing. Once again, I was out-cultured at this school. I’d never been to a movie on the lawn. And what made it more awkward was the sea of people sitting on the grass in fifty-degree weather, wrapped in blankets; some were looking my way. I had no idea where I was going and hated being seen outside of the ring.
“Hey, Tori!” A shout from the right had me stopping and desperately searching.
When I found Samantha’s waving arms, I felt stupid. I should have known the only female voice calling me from the West Beverly High crew would have been ShawnNicole’s, and hers was brittle and whispery.
I waved back and tried to add a smile, but deep inside I was hella annoyed. In the next ten seconds, I was going to turn around and head back to my dorm.
“McNabb, you look like you’ve stepped in shit!” someone howled, then a chorus of laughter followed.
I rolled my eyes, knowing I’d found my destination. Al stood on his knees and waved his thick arms in the air like I belonged on a short bus. Andrea and Karmen laughed their heads off, Karmen even pointed my way. So immature. After rolling my eyes, they landed on a tight face gaping back at me. Ashton tapped the blanket which was an empty space to the right of him, then flapped his fingers for me to come. So ready to get out of the spotlight, I moved quickly, being sure not to step on legs or knee the backs of heads on my way.
My body froze when I made it to him. What I couldn’t see from a distance was Aivery’s head on his left shoulder as she tapped away into her phone.
“McNabb,” Ashton called out. “Have a seat.” His eyes pulled my attention down to the rolled out Panthers sleeping bag next to him.
“Hey, Tori!” ShawnNicole rasped from the other side of Aivery.
She sat in between Karmen and Andrea. Of course, Karmen sat by mean girl Aivery. That’s when I noticed magazines spread out between the girls, and they played with their phones, too.
ShawnNicole reached over Andrea to show Karmen a hairstyle. How they